Winds and Tails
by Prauge
Summary: LUffy and the crew come to a peacful island, but find out that it will soon be demolished. what will they do to save it, and who is theis weird kid? R and R
1. Dock and meet

**Luffy and the gang come to an island and meet a man with "odd" nightly habits**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, yet, but my plan is in motion, mwahahaha**

Wind and Tails

Note: this is after they got Thousand Sunny, but before they went through the Florian Triangle.

"Island ho!!"

The crew all perked up at the cry of land, they hadn't been off the ship in months and the supplies were running low. Sanji was running out of different types of seasoning, Nami was low on paper, Zoro desperately needed a new sword, and Chopper wanted to see if there were any medical supplies on this island. Luffy was nagging Sanji for food, Robin was fine lounging around, and Franky was just plain old bored. As they dock and get off the ship, a young man approaches them. "I would hide your ship or at least your flag if I were you," he warns. "This island doesn't take kindly to pirates." The young man is a little taller than Luffy, but has short fiery red hair that somehow stayed upright in the wind. He had on a black shirt with a high collar so that if he ducked his head, his face was hidden. His shorts went slightly past his knees, and were white, despite the dust that had been thrown up because of the wind. He had a slight build, and his hair was flying in his face, but the thing the crew could not stop looking at were his eyes. They were bright green, and looked as if they would glow in the dark. "Who are you?" Luffy rather bluntly asks. The young mans smiles and says, "I'm sorry, my name is Kumo, I'm a resident of this island. Here, everyone knows everyone else." Then, the entire crew starts pestering him with questions.

"Where is a medical store?"

"Is there a place that sells paper?"

"Where is the sword shop?"

"Ne, where is the grocery store?"

Kumo waves the questions off and then explains that he will take them on a tour of the town, and then back to his house for a place to stay. Everyone agrees with this, and the tour begins. Kumo first accommodates the captain, by taking them to the bar where, he explains, that there is a sale on an "All you can eat" buffet. Soon, they are kicked out because Luffy ate all the food in the restaurant. As they were walking through town, Nami started noticing that glances were being thrown at Kumo, and then people would leave, as if they were afraid. When she asked about this, the man assured her he would explain later, but had a sad expression on his face. Later, after all the errands were done, one by one, all the crewmembers except Luffy had noticed the townspeople's reactions to Kumo. As he led the crew back to his house, a citizen affronted Kumo, asking, why he was scaring off his customers, and would not be let back into his restaurant. Once again, the entire crew noticed, except Luffy.

Once they get to the house, Nami asks why that man confronted him, and why they had to move their ship. Kumo sighs. He explains that he is viewed as a curse in their village, because ever since he got there, pirates had been attacking the island. Somewhat recently, when the pirates did attack, a masked being fends them off. "They say he has never even been touched in a fight, and that he hides his face because it is mutilated. The villagers have taken to calling him Mirage." Suddenly, Luffy realizes that the house is empty of other people. He asks where Kumo's family is. Kumo answers, "They were killed by pirates, during the first raid this island experienced while I was here."

**Hey, whatcha think, first fic, don't hold back, critique helps. Wont take long between updates if I get enough reviews I know its short, but dont worry, other will be longer**

**Prauge**


	2. Fight on the Beach

**Luffy and the gang come to an island and meet a man with "odd" nightly habits**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, yet, but my plan is in motion, mwahahaha**

_Winds and Tails_

_Somewhat recently, when the pirates did attack, a masked being fends them off. "They say he has never even been touched in a fight, and that he hides his face because it is mutilated. The villagers have taken to calling him Mirage." Suddenly, Luffy realizes that the house is empty of other people. He asks where Kumo's family is. Kumo answers, "They were killed by pirates, during the first raid this island experienced while I was here._

Later that night, Luffy approached Zoro, waking him. He said, "I wanna see this masked guy. He sounds interesting, and if he fights us, we'll beat him up." They left without telling anyone else, in search of Mirage. Luckily, a pirate raid happened that night. As the pirates appeared on the beach, the masked man walked in front of them, and drew a line in the sand, showing clearly his meaning, "Don't go past here." The pirates jeer, not believing that one person could hinder them much. As they rush him, swords swinging, they soon realize how wrong they were. Not one man could touch him, even when they snuck up behind him. One by one, each pirate got knocked back, until the entire mob was lying in the sand. Once they realized that they were no match for him, their captain came into view. The captain berated the crew, and said that if they were too weak, that he would fight himself. The captain, who was identified by the crew as Fang, walked up to within speaking distance of Mirage.

"If you leave now, I won't kill you, even though you incapacitated most of my crew. If not, I will kill you and feed you to the fish." The man made no move, not to retreat, or in anger. Starting to get frustrated at the lack of emotion, Fang told the man, rather indecently to move or be moved, rather painfully. This bout of yelling was received with complete indifference, and that drove Fang over the edge. Screaming, Fang launched himself at the masked man. Mirage easily sidestepped, skipped a few steps away, while dodging a barrage of attacks from Fang.

Completely infuriated at the ease Mirage dodged, Fang let out a barrage of kicks, punches, and screams. All he succeeded in doing was getting out of breath. Mirage dodged all the attacks with acrobatic ease. "FINE," Fang screamed, "you can handle a regular human, but how about one with a Devil Fruit ability?!!" With that, he started to change into a tiger. The remaining conscious crew started chuckling to themselves.

With the next barrage of attacks, Mirage was clearly being more careful. Because of the transformation, Fang had a longer reach and quicker reflexes. Now, Mirage was not counterattacking after each attack. Even though Fang was not being hit as much, he still had not landed a blow on his opponent. Even when Mirage was performing a back flip to dodge an uppercut, and Fang got under him, swinging with his claws, Mirage managed to dodge, even though he obviously had not actually seen the blow coming. Luffy and Zoro were amazed by the fight and so engrossed by watching that they didn't notice that they had been spotted by one of the conscious crewmembers.

"Oi, look, that guy has backup. There are two guys hiding over there!"

"Crap, they saw us, and there's a bunch of them." Zoro drew his swords, and Luffy lept up.

At the exclamation, Mirage started to turn in surprise, and yelled in pain as Fang sank his teeth into his upper left arm. Mirage turned and gestured sharply at Fang, seemingly throwing a strong gust of wind at the Devil Fruit user. Because of the pain, the gust actually pushed Fang farther down his arm, leaving deep cuts in his arm. He gestured again, and this time Fang was forced off. Luffy was the only one who noticed, because Zoro literally had enemies piled on him. His attention was drawn back into his own fight as he got punched in the face. He quickly let loose with a "Gomu Gomu no Gatling gun!" obliterated the enemies and turned his attention back to Mirage and Fang. Mirage had backed up to a somewhat safe distance, holding his arm. As Mirage was assessing the damage, Fang was smiling and licking the blood from his mouth.

"Guess you're not untouchable huh?" Fang spat out some blood. Mirage gestured again; blasting Fang with enough force to push him back a foot.

"If you think that your little winds are enough to stop me, you are SO wrong. A tiger never stops until killed." Mirage nodded as if acknowledging Fang's words. He then started a twirling motion with his hand. Fang watched it, as if amused. Soon, a small wind tunnel appeared in his hand. He then tilted his hand, dropping the mini tornado on the sand. Fang looked at the foot high tornado; "You really think that little thing will hurt me?" he scoffed. He started laughing, and because his eyes were closed, he didn't notice that the tornado had grown to about three feet tall. When he finally opened his eyes, the tornado had grown to about twice his own height. As he saw the size, he froze, and started to run. Mirage realized that Fang was going to get away, and then sent the tornado at the said pirate. It moved at an amazing pace, catching up to Fang in three seconds. When the tornado hit its target, it literally ripped Fang apart. Mirage stood there, obviously panting in the blood-soaked sand. As Luffy and Zoro leapt out to speak to him, he turned, holding his injured arm. Zoro immediately saw that he needed medical attention.

"We have a good doctor back at a friend's place" he started to say, but only got out one word before he got blasted by a wind from Mirage, strong enough to send him flying into the ocean. Luffy started to attack Mirage before he sent another blast of wind toward Luffy. Just before the blast hit, he heard the only sound spoken by Mirage, apart from the yell after he was bitten.

"Sorry"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"It was Kumo, I tell you, I heard him." Luffy was telling the crew, outside of Kumo's house in the middle of the night, after he was fished out of the ocean after the wind blast.

"It couldn't have been Kumo, he didn't leave the house, and I would have heard him." Ussop told him.

"I'm telling you I heard him."

"And I'm telling you that that is impossible."

"Actually, it's not." Kumo said as he snuck up behind them. The entire crew jumped because no one had heard him walk up.

"So it was you that knocked me into the ocean." Luffy said accusingly.

"I didn't know that you had a Devil Fruit ability, I really didn't." Kumo explained. "Besides, you're ok, Zoro got you out. Did you see the whole fight?"

"Yea, that was amazing, how did you do that and sorry about the arm."

"What happened to your arm? It looks like it was chewed up." Chopper was already going to get his medical kit. Luffy was still alternately yelling at and asking Kumo about the wind.

"Stop, just SHUT UP!" Kumo yelled, "I'll explain it to you, as well as why I fight pirates, just not right here and now. Plus my arm got shredded because you guys had to get noticed." Luffy started apologizing, but Kumo waved it off, saying, "No, just forget about it, it'll be fine, especially with your doctor. Besides, you got the rest of the crew from attacking me again." Kumo led them back inside, with Chopper working on his arm the entire time. By the time Kumo made tea, and got settled Luffy was asking him questions again.

"Alright, I'll tell you everything, just stop asking questions."

Kumo started his tale.

**Better? I was told my dialog formatting was off. if you wanna find out what happens you better review. Thanks to my one reviewer, Blu-caller (ONE? Should be more, hmph) thanks for reading**

**-Prauge**


	3. A Look into the Past

**Luffy and the gang come to an island and meet a man with "odd" nightly habits**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, yet, but my plan is in motion, mwahahaha**

Winds and Tails

"_I'll explain it to you, as well as why I fight pirates, just not right here and now. Plus my arm got shredded because you guys had to get noticed." Luffy started apologizing, but Kumo waved it off, saying, "No, just forget about it, it'll be fine, especially with your doctor. Besides, you got the rest of the crew from attacking me again." Kumo led them back inside, with Chopper working on his arm the entire time. By the time Kumo made tea, and got settled Luffy was asking him questions again. _

"_Alright, I'll tell you everything, just stop asking questions."_

_Kumo started his tale._

"I first came to this island when I was four, along with my parents and sister. Our boat had been shipwrecked in a storm, and my sister got sick. We didn't have enough money to pay the doctor, so my father decided to sell my services. He believed that each person should work for his share, even the elderly and young. I started working on a farm, and worked from dawn to dusk, and I came home each day with open sores and cuts. I was five. My sister was ten, and had not gotten better. My mother tried to stand up for me, but my father wouldn't hear of it. He worked out a deal with the farm owner so that he would feed me, and house me, as well as send some money to my family. In return, he got me. I had to work on the farm at all hours, barely ever sleeping. On the weekends, he would let me see my family, but I was always too tired to. One night, the farm owner came home drunk, and woke me up rather forcefully, with a broken beer bottle. One day, I decided that I couldn't bear the farm anymore, so I ran away. At the time, this island had a thick jungle, full of places to hide. The problem was, it was also full of creatures and they rarely got to eat humans. It was in that forest where I ate my Devil Fruit, though I didn't know it at the time. I stayed there for two nights, before I went back to my parent's house. I came back expecting open arms, but got a whip instead. I wished my father was dead, and unfortunately, I got my wish. That night, this island had the first pirate raid it had had in years. During that, my mother and sister were taken, and I was tied down and they were killed brutally, right in front of me. My father was dragged away, heavily wounded. He probably died, but I'll never know. After seeing my sister in pain, I ripped through the ropes and discovered my Devil Fruit ability, and set a tornado on them. I saw my sister wasn't dead yet, and I tried to bring her to a doctor. I got about halfway there before she died in my arms. Ever since that night, pirate raids happened about once every two months, and the villagers blamed me. I was the only one who survived that didn't run away. They believed that because I fought the pirates, that I brought a curse upon the island. Because each time pirates raided the island, the town was devastated, I decided to fight back. I didn't want to see more and more devastation. I went into the forest and started training my ability, and when I emerged, I had learned how to rip men apart with mere wind. I started protecting the village in secret, so the villagers wouldn't spurn me more than usual. Only recently did I make my mask and become what the villagers have dubbed 'Mirage'." Kumo took the mask out, and for the first time, everyone got a good look at it. It was intricately carved, and made of a lightweight metal. It had eyeholes in the form of slits. It was decorated so that it looked as if air currents were rushing over it. "They call me this because of the legend that I have never been touched in battle, that it was impossible too. This is somewhat true. Because of my ability to control the air, I am also aware of movements in it. Any movement by any being causes movement in the air. I can tell where people are, and where they are moving. If I can tell where people are, I can dodge much easier. The only problem with that is that the overload of information in my brain gives me the worst headaches anyone has ever felt.

"One question, what is your dream?" Luffy asked.

"My dream or my ambition?"

"Both"

"My ambition is to kill the man who killed my family and my dream is to fly over the entire Grand Line."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Later that night, when everyone was asleep, Kumo dug out his only possession from his childhood, an old flute. As he climbed out the window and onto the roof, he started playing. As the beautiful haunting melody drifted through the house, Luffy climbed up to see him. Luffy waited until the song was done then asked, "Don't you ever sleep?"

"No, I haven't slept since that farmer attacked me in the middle of the night. Ever since then, every time I tried to sleep I was plagued with nightmares about it, and later of my family."

"Who taught you that song, it's beautiful?"

"My mother; she composed it, and made this flute. It is the only thing I have left of her; everything else was lost in the battle."

They sat in silence for a while, then Luffy said, "You said it was your dream to fly over the Grand Line, can you really fly?"

"Sorta, I can make myself come off the ground, but after that I lose control. Everything around me gets bashed to bits. That's the hard part about my Devil Fruit. If I'm not very careful, and keep my emotions in check, everyone around me will die."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

**How do you like it? Better, worse, didn't change? Thanks to my reviewer, Blu-calling (yea, its Blu-calling, not –caller, I had a brain fart) and thanks to Smiley-Nami for adding this story to her favorites. Theres more coming, so plz review**

**-Prauge**


	4. Lacking determination

**Luffy and the gang come to an island and meet a man with "odd" nightly habits**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, yet, but my plan is in motion, mwahahaha**

Winds and Tails

_Luffy said, "You said it was your dream to fly over the Grand Line, can you really fly?"_

"_Sorta, I can make myself come off the ground, but after that I lose control. Everything around me gets bashed to bits. That's the hard part about my Devil Fruit. If I'm not very careful, and keep my emotions in check, everyone around me will die."_

Kumo left to go shopping with the crewmembers whose needs had not been pandered to. Luffy, Zoro, and Nami were left in the house.

"I think we should invite him into the crew"

"What? He fights pirates for a living and he hates pirates. There is no way he would come."

"Wait Zoro, he doesn't fight pirates because he hates them, he fights to protect the people he cares about."

"We should invite him anyway, he can make tornado's, that's so cool."

"THAT'S NO REASON TO INVITE HIM, BAKA!!" Nami and Zoro yelled at Luffy while smashing his head into the floor.

"Yea it is, besides, he can make winds to move the Thousand Sunny."

"We don't need wind, we have our Soldier Dock System."

"Yea, but that's not as cool." Both Nami and Zoro sighed simultaneously.

"Besides, like I said, his ambition is to kill pirates"

"No, a pirate, that's different. If he wanted to kill pirates, he would have attacked us already. We would have beaten his butt, but that's not the point. Maybe, if we help him beat that one pirate, he would join us."

"But he doesn't want to BE a pirate, because if he left, then these people wouldn't acknowledge him." Nami explained.

"I'm going to ask him anyway." Luffy spent the next few minutes trying to pull his head out of the sink drain.

When each of the crewmembers came back, one by one, Luffy proposed his idea to them. By the time the last one came back, (Ussop) Luffy had been thrown through two walls, had his head smashed through four tables, and had his neck tied in knots. When Kumo finally came back, with food, Luffy asked him questions, namely about the pirates that killed his family.

"Do you even know who it was?"

"I don't know his name, but I do know some things. He owns a large crew, about half the size of Whitebeard's. He has about fifty different ships under his control, each captained by someone with a Zoan Devil Fruit. It is said that he trains feral animals, and has one for each of his captains with abilities. That pirate who invaded last night was working for him. His pirate flag is a skull with fangs instead of normal teeth."

"I've heard of him" Franky said, "You're in luck; he always comes to kill the one who killed a captain of his. The only problem is, he doesn't do it himself. He has the offender fight each man on his ship, one after another, until he is killed. Eventually, if you kill every single man on his ship, you'll be able to fight him."

"Well, I don't have much of a choice, now do I? I'll have to fight every man on his ship."

"Are you kidding, you'll die!!"

"Zoro, you've seen me fight, and I have other moves you haven't seen. They can't touch me, unless I'm distracted or they are faster than my reactions."

"This guy is better than Fang, and he left your arm in shreds."

"He only got my arm because you guys distracted me."

"Oh." Zoro looked at the ground sheepishly. "Sorry about that"

"It's ok, Chopper is great." Kumo said, "I'll be fine before the ship comes. Hey, Sanji, what's for dinner?"

"I don't know what do you want?"

"Meat, lots of meat!!" Luffy started jumping around the blond chef.

Over dinner, Kumo questioned Franky about the pirate captain he wanted to fight. Kumo learned that he was known as Tails, because of his captain's abilities. He normally stationed close to the island, so he should be there before the log set (three weeks).

"Kumo" Robin said, "Why do pirates keep attacking this island?"

"I don't know. There is no treasure on this island that I know of. They just come because it's easy to raid it. There is no military force here to stop them, just me. It might be to test their abilities against me, but I don't think that's it either."

"Did it ever occur to you that they might be coming to avenge the crew before them? That they come to kill the one who killed their subordinates?"

"No, and that would explain it. They seem to be getting slightly more skilled. Maybe each ship is slightly higher in the ranks, or is sent to see what happened to the previous one, because they never reported back. Only Tails' top men have Devil Fruit abilities, and because the crew will report back, Tails himself will come."

"What will you do when he does?"

"The only thing I can Luffy, fight will all my strength. I expect to fight him, but I do not expect to win. Quite the opposite in fact, he will kill me."

"What?!! How can you act like that?" Luffy exploded, "This man slaughtered your family and your town. You should want to kill him!"

"I do, and I want to, but I'm not stupid! I'm not that strong, and I know it. I'm not like you guys. Your total crew's bounty is over 600 million beri. You guys took down the World Government's Island. I just stopped a few pirates from killing the villagers."

"You have to have confidence in yourself. Even if you don't, those villagers do. You fight to protect these people, and if you don't believe in yourself, you will leave these people at the mercy of these pirates. Is that what you want?"

"Of course its not what I want," said Kumo, rising to his feet, "but I don't have the power to do otherwise."

"Yes you do," Luffy yelled, mimicking Kumo's move, "I saw you tear a man apart with wind!! If you can't beat one pirate, then you don't deserve to be in my crew!" Kumo gaped at Luffy's statement. "You wanted me in your crew? But why, I kill pirates?"

"Because you don't kill pirates because you hate them, but to protect the people of this village. If you'll just leave them, then you're just a selfish kid!!"

"You have NO IDEA what I would do for them even though they hate me! You wouldn't understand because you and your crew are nakama! I haven't had nakama in YEARS, and these people are all I have!"

"Then ACT like you care, and kill that pirate!" Kumo looked like he had been slapped in the face. "Then maybe I'll let you join my crew."

"I'll try, and thank you for the offer."

"Good, now back to dinner. Sanji, is the meat done yet?"

"Does he always change gears like that so easily?" Kumo asked Nami.

"You have no idea." Kumo sighed heavily, and then said he was going out. As he jumped out the window he said, "I'm sorry for what I said, and you were right, I need to believe in myself more."

The next day, a cry came up in the village, "Pirates, pirates are coming!" Kumo looked up at hearing the cry.

"It must be him, coming for me."

"Kumo, you'll beat him up so fast he won't know what hit him."

"Yeah, he has no chance."

"You'll beat him easy."

"No problem."

"He is going down."

"Thanks guys, but first I have to get through his crew" Kumo said

"Don't worry about that, we'll help." Luffy said. Kumo looked up in confusion. "We talked about this after you left last night and we said that we would beat his crew for you, so you won't be tired when you get to fight him." Zoro explained, "We thought that you should get a fair chance."

"Thanks guys, that means a lot, especially since we just met a week ago."

"No problem now lets go get 'em!"

**Morning all. Sorry it took longer than normal to update, computer went crazy, couldn't write much. As always, thanks to my reviewers, Blu-calling and Smiley-Nami. Big fight scene is next, what's gonna happen? plz review and critique, it's the only way I can get better**

**-Prauge**


	5. Mirage vs Tails

**Luffy and the gang come to an island and meet a kid with 'odd' nightly habits**

**Disclaimer: I FINALLY OWN ONE PIECE, WOOHOO. Dang it, you saw through it**

Winds and Tails

"_He is going down."_

"_Thanks guys, but first I have to get through his crew" Kumo said_

"_Don't worry about that, we'll help." Luffy said. Kumo looked up in confusion. "We talked about this after you left last night and we said that we would beat his crew for you, so you won't be tired when you get to fight him." Zoro explained, "We thought that you should get a fair chance."_

"_Thanks guys, that means a lot, especially since we just met a week ago."_

"_No problem now lets go get 'em!" _

"Hang on, let me get my mask."

"Why?"

"The villagers know me as Mirage; they will be very surprised if their protector turns out to be someone they hate," Kumo explained.

"Oh, okay then." With that, the crew, along with Kumo, went down to meet the pirate crew. The ship was huge, bigger than Thousand Sunny, and bristling with pirates, all armed and jeering at the masked Kumo. The villagers had all turned out and were cheering them on. They soon reached the ship, and were brought up. Tails was sitting on a throne at the front of the ship. He was tall, and powerfully built. He had many pets, ranging from dogs to birds to reptiles. He had over 50 of them. The oddest thing about him was that he also hid his face with a mask. The mask had the features of a beast, but exactly what kind was debatable. It had the fangs of a tiger, the tongue of a snake, the eyes of a wolf, and many other aspects of different animals. As the captain caught sight of the crew, he yelled "Which one of you killed my men?!!" As Kumo silently stepped forward Tails started laughing.

"What, this little shrimp killed my strongest captain? Hahahahaha!! That's impossible; he had 75 million beri on his head."

"Hey, it happened I saw it!" Luffy shouted, "This guy can kill you and all of your men easily."

"What?!! This kid can't kill me. I have 130 million beri on my head, and this little thing doesn't have one. It's impossible. Men, attack them!!" The crew did so with a vengeance. Soon the Luffy pirates and Kumo were overwhelmed by the size of the enemy. Yet, despite the size, the crew was thrown back by the Luffy pirates. Rather quickly, the enemy had been decimated, although that still left quite a lot. Another wave came, and was defeated again. Wave after wave of enemies came, each one stronger than the last. Soon, the waves sere small enough for one-on-one battles, but at that point, Tails's crew were strong enough to face the Luffy pirates without being thrown back immediately. Soon, only Tails remained conscious.

"What, are you to cowardly to fight my crew, and have to hide behind these little twerps? Coward." Tails was quaking with rage as he said this. Every one of his pets had been demolished along with all but a handful of his crew. Kumo just took his hands out of his pockets and settled into a defensive stance, beckoning with one hand. Tails dashed at him with a burst of inhuman speed, overwhelming him with a barrage of attacks. Hands and feet flickered as each contestant tried to hit the other, the entire deck filled with their battle. The Luffy pirates watched with amazement at the battle, awed by the fact that neither opponent had been touched yet. The first real blow was hit by Kumo, a kick to the face after dodging a punch, by dropping down to the deck and sending both of his feet crashing into Tails' jaw. He followed that with a combo, only to be punched at. Kumo blocked, but was sent sliding back at least 10 yards. All stared in amazement, especially Kumo, as Tails' mask splintered, and fell off. His face, although scarred, was easily recognizable by Kumo as his own father.

"So now you know my face and, if you have lived in the village for a while, my identity. I was dragged away from this village eight years ago by this very pirate crew. I was tortured as a slave, until I killed my captors. After that, I was allowed into the crew. I climbed up the ranks, was made captain of my ship, and eventually the fleet. I decided to attack the island I lived on for revenge. They left me as a slave on that terrible ship. They didn't even try to find out if I was alive. I am going to kill every single person on this island if it takes me my entire life."

"I'll make sure that never happens!!" Kumo yelled. The wind was whipping around the ship, making all spectators wince at the angry display. All people who watched gaped, including the remaining conscious crewmembers. Slowly but surely, Kumo's feet started lifting off the ground. Tails suddenly attacked with renewed vigor, daggers appearing out of nowhere, with Kumo dropping back to the deck, blocking, and never counter-attacking.

"Why isn't he fighting back?" Luffy said.

Kumo was getting pounded, getting hit left and right. He was bleeding heavily in multiple places. Tails suddenly gained a burst of speed, caught Kumo, and threw him against the deck, and he didn't get back up.

"Come on, get back up, I'm not done with you yet!" Kumo's dad yelled, "These villagers are going to see your execution!" At that, Kumo stirred. "What, are you going to protect them in your state? You'll get yourself killed!"

"I'd rather be killed than let those villagers die!" At that, Kumo stood up. His arms were hanging, cut in many places. He started making a tornado, but was interrupted when Tails picked up a sword from one of his fallen comrades, and stabbed Kumo in the chest.

"Now let's see your true face, shall we?" With that, Tails turned Kumo toward the crowd, and ripped off his intricately carved mask. A gasp ran through the crowd as they saw that the one they spurned had been protecting them with his life. Tails also recognized Kumo, and stared. He recovered himself, and sneered

"This is your protector, a mere child? Now watch as he dies as all you will soon."

"That will never happen!" Kumo's tornado had collapsed into a jumble of vibrating air, and when Kumo put his hands over his father's ears, that air literally tore his brain apart. As Tails' eyes went blood red and died, the wind master fell to the deck. After the enemy crew realized that their captain was dead, they pulled the sword out of Kumo, and started beating him.

"Hey, get your hands off of him!!"

Luffy was storming toward them, eyes blazing, fists flying. He picked Kumo up, tears running from his eyes, as he walked back to his crew. Then he noticed that Kumo wasn't dead.

"Chopper, the blade missed his heart! Can you help him?"

"I don't know, this is serious, but I'll do what I can."

"Good, save him, because he is going to be in our crew."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Kumo gradually opened his eyes, wincing as the light startled them. As he sat up, he noticed two things, that his chest felt like it was on fire, and that he wasn't in his room. As he looked down at his chest, and saw the bandages the crossed his chest, memories came flooding back. He fell back down, shaking, as he relived that night's events. After a while, Kumo decided to try to find out where he was. He slowly got up, and started moving toward the door. It took a while, but he finally got to it, and opened the door. Harsh sunlight met his eyes again, making them water. He waited a moment to get used to the light, then stepped out onto the deck of Thousand Sunny. Looking down he saw Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Frankie engaged in a round of tag on the lawn. He noticed that the ship had left the docks, but was still in sight of the island.

"Ne, why did you guys leave the island?" Kumo called down, making everyone aware of his presence. Suddenly he was enveloped in a tight, and painful, hug by a certain rubber captain.

"Thank Kami you're ok, we were worried. We left cuz we were chased off by the villagers, thinking we would ransack the town since you were out of commission."

"How long has it been?"

"One week." Chopper answered, "Not long enough for you to heal any, so get back into bed and don't exert yourself."

"Hai." Kumo somehow got back into Chopper's office where he had woken up. Dwelling on what had happened, and what would happen, he found himself yawning, and gave up, sinking into a long restful sleep.

**Tadaaa! Good ending, bad ending, I'm gonna barf ending? Thanks to Blu-calling and Smiley-Nami for reviewing!**

**-Prauge**


End file.
